A self-proclaimed US-based Indian cyber expert Monday made a sensational claim that the 2014 Lok Sabha elections was "rigged" through the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), which, he said, can be hacked, a charge rejected by the Election Commission of India.
Addressing a press conference in London via Skype, the man, identified as Syed Shuja, said he fled India in 2014 because he felt threatened in the country after the killing of some of his team members. Although he appeared on screen through Skype, his face was masked.
Shuja, who said he is seeking political asylum in the US, claimed the telecom giant Reliance Jio helped the BJP to get low frequency signals to hack the EVMs. He provided no proof to back up his claim.
However, Jio was not in operation in 2014 and had launched its services in September 2016.
Shuja, who created a flutter, also alleged that other than the BJP, the SP, BSP, AAP and Congress too are involved in rigging of the EVMs. There was no immediate reaction from any of these parties.
He was presented at the press conference held under the aegis of the Indian Journalists' Association (Europe).
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He said the BJP would have won the recent Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections if his team hadn't intercepted the alleged attempts by the saffron party to hack the "transmissions" in these states.
Rejecting the outlandish and explosive claims, made in a cloak and dagger manner, the Election Commission of India(ECI) asserted that it firmly stands by the 'foolproof nature' of its machines even as it said it is examining as to what legal action "can and should" be taken in the matter.
In a statement released in New Delhi, the poll panel said whereas it is "wary of becoming a party to this motivated slugfest", it firmly stands by the "empirical facts about foolproof nature of ECI EVMs" used in elections in India.
The ECI reiterated that the EVMs used by it are manufactured by Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) and Electronics Corporation of India Limited (ECIL), both state-owned, under "very strict" supervisory and security conditions.
It said there are rigorous standard operating procedures "meticulously observed" at all stages under the supervision of a committee of technical experts constituted in 2010.
Shuja claimed he was part of a team at the ECIL